Lawrence Cannon’s chief of staff slapped with ethics fine

As thousands of Canadian scurry to make RRSP contributions or tweak their portfolios, one top Conservative decision maker has learned a costly lesson.

Paul Terrien, chief of staff to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, was fined $100 by Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson after he failed to inform her within 30 days of making changes to his personal RRSP.

According to a notice posted on the ethics commissioner’s website, notice of the violation for failing to notify the ethics commissioner of a “material change” was given July 16, 2010. Terrien paid the fine on Feb. 1.

Melissa Lantsman, spokesman for Cannon’s office, said Terrien took the initiative to contact Dawson’s office.

“Paul phoned proactively to raise this with the ethics commissioner. He called on whether a change made to an RRSP was admissable and it was not. It was a personal RRSP, so he took the corrective measures and that satisfied the current commissioner.”

Lantsman said the change had no relation to Terrien’s duties in the foreign affairs minister’s office.

While the conflict of interest act doesn’t spell out what constitutes a material change, the ethics commissioner’s website warns the hundreds of officials who fall under the act that changes in their finances can qualify.

“You should pay particular attention to new assets, sources of income and liabilities and new outside activities or other changed circumstances, since these changes could constitute material changes,” the website advises.

The maximum fine for violating the act is $500.

More than 1,000 senior government officials and ministerial staffers are obliged to file reports under the Conflict of Interest Act.

Terrien is the ninth public official to get slapped with a fine by the ethics commissioner since Conservative cabinet minister Peter MacKay was fined $200 in September 2009 for failing to disclose a directorship of a company in Nova Scotia.

In May 2010, former Conservative cabinet minister Helena Guergis was fined $100 for failing to disclose a mortgage on her home in Ottawa.